April 2012

04/25/2012

I enjoy combining traditional drawing processes with digital tools and couldn’t have found a better project to test out some new design communication techniques! For creating this aerial perspective of a college campus, I constructed a Google SketchUp base model, illustrated and colored the perspective using a Wacom Cintiq and finally added character and texture to the image with Prismacolor pencils.

The resulting aerial perspective has the technical accuracy of a computer model and an authentic “hand crafted” feel. This hybrid drawing was for a campus master plan my firm studioINSITE produced. Here is my “step-by-step” process:

Step 1 - Campus Reference Photo. I found a somewhat recent aerial photograph of the campus on the Internet which had valuable information as to the type and location of existing campus trees. The photo also identified roof patterns and building facades that I did not have from site visit photography.

Step 2 - Google SketchUp Model. Importing the illustrative master plan into SketchUp, I constructed the existing and proposed campus buildings with enough basic detail to understand massing and general window patterns. I reviewed several view options with my client and selected this preferred aerial view. I exported a high resolution jpeg and opened it in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 3 - Wacom Cintiq Digital Drawing. With the image open in Photoshop and using my Wacom Cintiq interactive monitor, I illustrated all of the buildings, trees, cars, walks and roads using a digital stylus pen at a 1 pixel pen setting. The base image was faded back to 30% to simplify the tracing process. After completing the digital drawing, I faded back the linework 50% to prepare the illustration for digital color.

Step 4 - Digital Ground Color. Using the Wacom Cintiq, I applied a base of different green colors. Areas close to campus were painted with deeper greens and more natural landscaped areas surrounding the campus were colored with more brown and tan tones.

Step 5 - Digital Landscaping. Selecting a new layer in Photoshop, I illustrated all of trees on the campus plan, combining shade trees, ornamental trees and established pine trees in the campus core. Each tree was built up with 2-3 different shades of color.

Step 6 - Digital Shadows. I created a new Photoshop layer and painted shadows onto all of the building walls and on the ground beneath trees, cars and campus buildings. I used a dark gray color and adjusted the transparency to achieve the best shadow density in the image.

Step 8 - Final Digital Color. I “fine tuned” the overall illustration by adding some additional digital detail to central plazas, building windows and landscaping. I then saved a jpeg of the illustration and plotted it in color.

Step 9 - Enlarged Color Print. In order to apply colored pencil to an illustration with this much detail and complexity, I enlarged the image to 17” x 34” and printed it onto a matte finish coated paper using a HP 5000 color plotter.

Step 10 - Hand Coloring with Pencils. This was an enjoyable process of adding diagonal hatching, color highlights and overall character to the aerial perspective. I used several light colored Prismacolor pencils to add texture to the ground surfaces, trees and windows. Yellow pencil on the side of buildings simulated a late afternoon sun illuminating the campus. In addition to the colored pencils, I added a few touches of colored markers and some loosely drawn graphite pencils lines to soften the illustration.

The final aerial perspective had a strong hand-drawn appearance when viewed in its entirety and a great amount of detail that could be viewed when portions of the image were enlarged. If you have access to a Wacom tablet or interactive Cintiq monitor, I encourage you to try a digital drawing and experiment with combining digital tools with traditional drawing methods. The results can be amazing!

04/20/2012

I’m always challenging myself to create new design communication solutions and this aerial rendering required combining numerous traditional and digital tools to create. My landscape design and planning firm studioINSITE was interested in working at a midwestern college and I wanted to produce an aerial view of the existing campus.

With limited existing data, I began with a campus map downloaded from the university website, added a Google Earth photograph for reference, illustrated the base image with a Wacom Cintiq 15X and completed the coloring with traditional markers and pencils. My final step involved applying a watercolor filter in Photoshop. Sounds complicated but actually involved a series of simple steps. Here is my “step-by-step” process:

Step 1 - Campus Isometric View. I downloaded an existing campus map from the university website. As you can see, the computer generated isometric aerial view lacked any landscaping, character and context. I resized it to 300dpi at 17” wide and also erased the legend and inset maps and printed the image 11”x17”.

Step 2 - Google Earth View. I found the university on Google Earth and saved an aerial view of the campus. I lightened the image in Adobe Photoshop and added contrast to the image.

Step 3 - Color the Existing Trees. Using a medium green Chartpak AD marker and using the Google Earth image for reference, I located all of the campus trees on the aerial view. This completed the “base image” for me to trace over.

Step 4 - Wacom Cintiq Digital Drawing. I have the amazing Wacom Cintiq interactive monitor and traced over the base image using a stylus pen at a 1 pixel point size. I created several layers in Photoshop and added light green tones to the landscaped areas and a darker green tone to the trees. Once the illustration was completed, I saved a 300dpi jpeg copy from the composite image.

Step 5 - Enlarged Color Plot. Because of the great detail of the line drawing, I enlarged the image to 14”x24” and plotted it in color on a matte finish coated bond paper using an HP plotter.

Step 6 - Hand Coloring with Markers. I enjoy coloring with Chartpak AD markers and selected only about 6-8 colors for the trees, building roofs, shadows, and windows. I used a yellow Prismacolor pencil to enhance the central grass areas and a white pencil to highlight the tree canopies. The addition of colored markers and pencils really gave the image a “hand crafted” look.

Step 7 - Graphite Pencil Overdrawing. I lightly traced some of the building roofs and walls with a loosely drawn pencil line using a standard Papermate mechanical pencil. I kept the linework very light and barely visible.

Step 8 - Final Hand Colored Image. It only took an hour to color the image with markers and pencils. I then scanned the illustration as a Tiff image at 300dpi and opened it in Adobe Photoshop. Notice how pale the image appears with low contrast. This is intentional as the contrast would eventually be increased in the final image following the watercolor filtering step.

Step 8 - Enlarged Detail

Step 9 - Digital Watercolor Filter. It only took an hour to color the image with markers and pencils. I then scanned the illustration as a Tiff image at 300dpi and opened it in Adobe Photoshop. I applied the watercolor filter in Photoshop to give the image a look of a hand painted watercolor.

Step 9 - Enlarged Detail

The final digital watercolor was used for the cover in a graphic document and cropped sections of the drawing used to supplement the text. Compare the original aerial view downloaded from the university website and this digital watercolor and imagine how easy it might be for you to try this technique on your next project!

04/16/2012

Many designers are integrating Google SketchUp models into their design and visualization process. This simple hand coloring step is worthy of adding into your work flow as it enhances your perspectives and adds significant character to your design presentation.

This visualization project was with my firm studioINSITE and involved a design concept for a small park adjacent to a historic hospital building. I created a simple SketchUp “stage set” model, printed several views and added color to the prints with markers and colored pencils. A before and after comparison clearly shows how the additional layer of color and hand drawn texture can communicate an idea far better than an exported view straight from a 3D computer model!

Step 1 - SketchUp “Stage Set” Model. The model I constructed for this pocket park first involved taking a digital photograph of the building exterior and incorporating it into the SketchUp model. I built just enough of the 3D model to establish three different views of the space.

Step 2 - Eye Level SketchUp View. I saved an eye-level view of the proposed park that featured the central pathway through a large symbolic ring. People locations and shadow angles were carefully positioned to compose an active park setting and landscape treatment.

Step 4 - Color Drawing Scan. I scanned the final colored image at 300 dpi and imported it into Adobe Photoshop where I adjusted the contrast levels. A high resolution jpeg was integrated into a graphic document explaining the overall park concept.

Low Aerial View. This second of three SketchUp views was established to help understand the circular site geometry not visible in the eye-level perspective. The view was cropped closely to maintain focus on the central plaza space. I printed and colored the image with Chartpak AD markers and Prismacolor pencils identical to the previous eye-level perspective.

High Aerial View. The third SketchUp perspective view for the presentation was saved high above the ground in order to communicate the overall site context and layout. Notice that the building facade and lack of adjacent buildings is much more evident than the previous two images. The high aerial was intended as a supplemental rendering to support the other more close-up views.

When creating SketchUp models for projects, create multiple views of your subject and always have markers and colored pencils nearby to enhance your images and give them a more “hand-crafted” touch!

04/10/2012

Jim Leggitt is offering a two-day drawing workshop for students, architects, interior designers and landscape architects Friday and Saturday August 24-25, 2011. The workshop will be held in Denver, Colorado at the offices of studioINSITE 3457 Ringsby Court Unit 223 Denver, Colorado 80216.

Workshop Fee: $750 Professional, $675 Student

If you are interested in participating in this workshop, have any questions, need to know where to stay and what supplies to bring - please visit Jim's website and download important documents to understand details about this workshop!

04/09/2012

Jim Leggitt is offering a two-day drawing workshop for students, architects, interior designers and landscape architects Friday and Saturday July 27-28, 2011. The workshop will be held in Denver, Colorado at the offices of studioINSITE 3457 Ringsby Court Unit 223 Denver, Colorado 80216.

Workshop Fee: $750 Professional, $675 Student

If you are interested in participating in this workshop, have any questions, need to know where to stay and what supplies to bring - please visit Jim's website and download important documents to understand details about this workshop!